IT’S BROWN ..THEN A RED
Celtic skipper hits last-gasp winner but is sent off after wild celebration
STEVE CLARKE feared for the safety of his Kilmarnock stars after Scott Brown’s late winner for Celtic sparked a pitch invasion at Rugby Park.
The Hoops captain struck in stoppage time – then picked up a second yellow card for charging towards the fans.
Celtic supporters piled on to the pitch at both ends, with some getting close enough to taunt Kilmarnock players, while earlier in the explosive clash Kris Boyd was hit by a coin.
Killie chiefs also revealed up to 40 seats were damaged in the Chadwick Stand away end while numerous flares were also thrown on to the pitch.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers condemned the coin throwing chaos – but refused to point the finger at his captain.
When asked about the Boyd flashpoint, he said: “Any behaviour like that is not acceptable at all, I think we would all reinforce that.”
But Rodgers insisted Brown was hard done by.
He said: “Of course there’s the reaction from him going to the crowd. But with it being at the end of the game and the emotion of it, I always think it’s harsh for a player to get sent off.
“Initially, whenever we score you’re celebrating with the bench and when I looked around there was a bit of a melee going on.
“Supporters had come on to the pitch, which we don’t want to see. I understand the emotion of it all. But I didn’t see so much of it, I had to reorganise very quickly because we were down to ten men.
“There is no blame ( for Scott).
“I can’t blame him, I thought he was excellent in the game. He had good control.
“It’s very hard for Scott or any other player, especially when you score late on.
“We don’t get so many late goals now we normally have a comfort in the game but to get a winner like that, so late, you want to go with your team-mates to your supporters.”
Clarke admitted he was worried about the crowd surge – but took the wild scenes as a compliment.
The Killie boss said: “I think you are always concerned when fans come on the pitch like that.
“In in sort of backhanded way, the celebrations that were probably a little bit over the top, it is a big compliment to Kilmarnock, that Celtic come here and celebrate a victory like that.”
Clarke had no issues with Kirk Broadfoot’s red card with 15 minutes to go.
He said: “From the side of the pitch, it didn’t look great. I won’t be complaining too much about it.
“I thought we played well, certainly didn’t deserve the cruel break at the end.
“Obviously when you go down to 10 men it is more difficult but even at 10 men I couldn’t see Celtic scoring.”